What this is

As of July 14, 2026, Appcues captures raw interaction data in the background of your application from the moment the Appcues SDK is installed. This is sometimes referred to as clickstream data.

When you create a new Click to Track (CTT) event, Appcues checks that background data for any past occurrences that match your new event's definition and immediately populates your event with that history in Event Explorer.

History is available starting July 14, 2026 (or your installation date, if you installed after that). The window of available history grows every day going forward.

How it works

The Appcues SDK records raw UI interactions — clicks, text inputs, page views, and form submissions — into a separate, PII-redacted store. This background store exists so that new events can be matched against it.

When you define a new event in the Builder (using Click to Track), Appcues matches your event's selector and criteria against that background data and surfaces any matching historical occurrences alongside new activity going forward.

What data is captured

Appcues captures the interaction metadata needed to identify UI elements, including:

• Click, input, or page view type
• Element details (for example, button type, selector, visible text label)
• Page URL and session ID
• A hashed user identifier (not tied to an identify call)

Appcues does not intentionally collect user-entered form data or other sensitive field values, and does not record hover events as part of this background capture.

FAQ

How is privacy handled?

• User identifiers are hashed before storage.
• Appcues applies automated PII detection and redaction (for example, emails or phone numbers that appear in page URLs).
• This background data is stored separately from your account's regular event data and is never surfaced or used unless you explicitly define a CTT event that matches it.

Does this impact performance?

No — this runs through the existing Appcues SDK with negligible overhead.

Can I turn this off?

• Admins can turn off raw event recording in Studio.
• If you'd like any already-recorded data deleted, contact Appcues support.

What happens to my existing events?

Nothing changes for events you've already created. Historical backfill only applies to new CTT events.

Does this mean Appcues is now recording everything users do?

No. Only interaction metadata is captured — click types, element selectors, page URLs, and hashed user IDs. Form content and other sensitive field values are not captured, PII redaction runs before anything is stored, and hover events are not recorded at this time.

Is this available on mobile?

Not yet. This is currently available for web (via the Appcues Web SDK) only.

Do I need to do anything to get this?

No. If the Appcues snippet is installed, background capture is already running. You'll see historical data automatically the next time you create a new CTT event.